Chris Tremlett has been labelled a “gentle giant” due to a perceived lack of
aggression but the man who has helped oversee his renaissance is sure he has
the fire to shake up Australia.

Chris Adams, the Surrey manager, says Tremlett should not be underestimated simply because he is not the type to shout in batsmen’s faces. And if the fast bowler is picked to replace Stuart Broad for the third Test in Perth next week, Adams is backing him to succeed.

“He can be a horrendous person to face, as awful as any bowler I have faced in my career,” Adams said.

“You don’t have to be a nasty, fasty, shouty, up-and-at-’em kind of character to make life very unpleasant for the opposition. I would rather take his type over someone who comes in and shouts and screams at everyone.”

Shane Warne has spoken of his frustration while captaining Tremlett at Hampshire, describing him as a “softie”.

Tremlett’s move to Surrey and the guiding hand of Adams has helped restore him to the England set-up. He now has the chance to play his first Test in three years if he is picked ahead of fellow bowlers Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad.

“Bresnan has bowled well and would add depth to the batting order and Shahzad is a fantastic talent but for this particular Test I would not look beyond him to come in,” Adams said.

“The Waca extracts more pace and bounce than most pitches and I know that’s why the selectors had Chris in mind when they chose the squad. He has the attributes to get lots of wickets on that type of pitch.”

Tremlett has already impressed Down Under, taking seven for 121 in England’s game against Australia A in Tasmania three weeks ago.

Adams believes Tremlett, who took 48 first-class wickets for Surrey last season, will have no problem dealing with the psychological pressure that being thrown into an Ashes series could bring.

“That performance in the warm-up game got a lot of people talking about Chris Tremlett again, and that is great,” Adams said.

“I wasn’t surprised at his performance in that match. Chris has been building up for a long time to this kind of form.

“He looked in good nick. He has bowled like that all year and he was always ready to come straight if an injury happened to the side. He is gold dust.”